It never ceases to amaze me, how quickly we forget things. This Israel/Hezbollah conflict started on July 12, 2006. Based on the news coverage, one would think that it was Israel that fired the first shot and did the first invasion, when in reality, it was Hezbollah!
The latest chapter in the ongoing Arab-Israeli Conflict began on July 12, 2006, when guerillas from the Islamic Lebanese group, Hezbollah (Party of God), crossed into Israel and attacked an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) patrol, killing three and capturing two others. They then returned to southern Lebanon with their prisoners. Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said the men were taken in order to set up a prisoner exchange with Israel. Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, declared the attack an “act of war” on Lebanon’s part, and promised a strong response.
Hezbollah launched “Operation True Promise” at 9:05 AM, on July 12, 2006. The operation began with a diversionary attack of rockets and mortar shells fired at Israeli settlements and military posts near the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah troops then entered Israel, attacked two armored Israeli Humvees, patrolling the border village of Zar’it, with rocket propelled grenades, killing three soldiers and capturing two others. The Hezbollah force then retreated back into Lebanon with their captives, later identified as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
An Israeli Merkava Mark II tank that was stationed nearby attempted to pursue the captors into Lebanon in a rescue attempt, but was hit by an improvise explosive device (IED), killing all four crew members. Another Israeli soldier died during an attempt to recover the bodies from the destroyed tank
After Hezbollah’s cross-border raid, the Israeli military launched air, naval, and ground attacks at Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, and Hezbollah responded by launching hundreds of rockets into northern Israel, some reaching as far south as the port city of Haifa.
Hezbollah also damaged an Israeli warship ten miles off the Lebanese coast with an Iranian-made unmanned drone, which rammed the ship and exploded.
Both sides continued to trade rocket, missile, and, artillery attacks, with most of the damage done to civilian targets on either side of the border. Israel’s strategy seems to be to cut off Lebanon and Hezbollah from any aid they may receive from Syria or Iran, who are Hezbollah’s main suppliers of weapons, money, and military training.
As the war entered its second full week, Israel issued three conditions for an end to hostilities: return of the captured soldiers, a complete end to hostilities, and the return of the Lebanese national army to southern Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah. Since Hezbollah is unlikely to agree to the third demand, the fighting is likely to continue. With that in mind, it looks as if Israel is preparing for a full-scale invasion in order to root out Hezbollah.
Also in in the second week, U.S. Marines landed in Beirut for the first time since the ill-fated intervention in the early 1980s, in order to evacuate American citizens from Lebanon. Several other Western nations also evacuated their nationals from the war zone.
This war is a part of the wider Israel-Lebanon Conflict which dates from the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978.
Of course you fail to mention the ways that Israel had taunted Hezbollah in the last six years. (Perhaps a False Flag Operation???)
Three things you omit on the “history” of this conflict:
* On its way out of South Lebanon, Israel left behind over 40,000 land mines and has refused to give the Lebanese Army or government a blueprint on removing them.
* Since 2000, Israel has launched over 11,000 rockets/missiles into South Lebanon
* Since 2000, Israel has repeatedly violated Lebanese Air Space and also the unauthorized use of Lebanese waters
Another thing to add (though I’m not a conspiracy theory kind of guy) Israel needs water–badly. So they needed something to allow them to invade Lebanon up to the Litani river, so they could have access to fresh water. Preposterous you say? Israel has been accused (and documented by the UN) in the 1980s and 1990s to have done just that.
You are ABSOLUTELY correct that Hezbollah started this conflict. And (surprised???) I believe that Israel does have a right to defend itself. However, that’s not to say that Israel was an innocent school girl minding her own business…
1-* On its way out of South Lebanon, Israel left behind over 40,000 land mines and has refused to give the Lebanese Army or government a blueprint on removing them.
Source says: The Lebanese Army has told Landmine Monitor that the Israeli maps provide information on less than 80 percent of the minefields and that fieldwork has shown the maps are about 60 percent accurate.[17] The UN Interim Force in Lebanon reportedly stated that Israel had provided maps for only 40 percent of the minefields.[18] Israel would not disclose information regarding minefields in the area north of the Litani River up to Jezzine.[19] On 30 January 2004, Lebanon obtained some of Israel’s South Lebanon minefield maps during a Hezbollah prisoner exchange with Israel.[20] Couldn’t help but notice that word HIZBOLLAH
* Since 2000, Israel has launched over 11,000 rockets/missiles into South Lebanon No proof of that, in fact all the links point to the second day of the conflict as being the heaviest since 1982, from a military standpoint
* Since 2000, Israel has repeatedly violated Lebanese Air Space and also the unauthorized use of Lebanese waters No kidding, they are fighting Hizbollah who are located within lebanon. As for the water:
U.S., Israel seek to defuse tense Lebanese water plan
According to the Lebanese, the project should supply the needs of only five to six villages. Israel believes the project is much bigger, and is geared to serve about 60 towns and villages.
The Wazzani is a tributary of the Hatzbani River, which is one of three key sources of the Jordan River. That flows into the Sea of Galilee, Israel’s main water reservoir.
The Lebanese project could divert some millions of cubic meters from the lake, which already has suffered major water loss in recent years due to drought.
On Tuesday, Ben-Eliezer estimated that the Wazzani provides up to 10 percent of Israel’s water. While it is not a matter of life and death for Israel — which provides some 50 million cubic meters of water to Jordan every year under a peace agreement — the diversion would be not only a blow but a worrying precedent.
The current crisis is not the first one over Lebanese plans to divert the Wazzani. In March 2001, Lebanon laid a water pipe from the Wazzani to a nearby village. Israel also issued a harsh warning, but calmed down after the Lebanese government said it was only a four-inch-wide pipe for local use.
Then, in August 2001, a Lebanese farmer placed a small pump near the Israeli border, which he used to water his fields. After warnings, Israel ultimately swallowed that pill as well.
Hezbollah is not a nation. It is a terrorist organization. It has no right to inhabit Southern Lebanon. It should not be negotiated with or recognized as a legitimate entity by anyone. It has no right to expect to be.
It is a nest of vermin to be fumigated. Call the Orkin man!